Two Second-Grade Schoolgirls Drown in Pond in Bhola's Borhanuddin
Two schoolgirls have drowned while bathing in a pond in Borhanuddin upazila of Bhola. The dead children are Tanha (10) and Maha (9). The tragic incident happened on Friday morning in Ward No. 3 of Baramanika Union in the upazila, casting a shadow of grief over the area.
Tanha was the daughter of Abdul Gani of the area and Maha the daughter of Md Shahin. Both were second-grade students at the local Manikarhat Government Primary School. The simultaneous death of two classmates from the same class has created deep grief among their families, classmates and teachers.
According to police and relatives, on Friday morning Tanha and Maha went to bathe in the pond in front of their home without their family members noticing. No one imagined that a pond so close to home would turn fatal for them.
It is believed that one of them first slipped on the slippery pond steps and drowned, and the other child also drowned while trying to save her. At one stage both went missing. The initial report did not say whether either child knew how to swim.
Family members later searched the home and surrounding areas but could not find them. During the search, relatives found the two floating in the pond beside the home and recovered them. The panic and wailing of that moment weighed heavily on the whole area.
After the rescue, they were quickly taken to Borhanuddin Upazila Health Complex. But the doctor on duty there declared both dead after examination. Grief erupted in both families when the news of death arrived from the hospital.
Borhanuddin Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md Ashrab Ali confirmed the incident. He said police were sent to the spot after receiving the news and the matter is being investigated.
The OC added that the process of taking further legal measures over the incident is under way. The full account of the incident will be formally recorded in the police investigation.
Child drowning is a long-standing public health problem in Bangladesh. As almost every rural home has a pond nearby, small children can meet with an accident within moments if they go near a pond outside adults' sight. This Borhanuddin incident is another tragic example of that risk.
Local people say children spend more time playing and bathing around the home on holidays, when even a little carelessness by adults can cause great danger. After the two students' deaths, many parents in the area have reportedly become newly cautious about children going near ponds.
Health experts have long said that teaching children to swim at an early age and increasing supervision at pond banks could reduce such deaths considerably. They also advise safety measures where pond steps are slippery.
The grief of the two families is now beyond consolation. The people of the Manikarhat area are stunned at losing two students of the same school and same class together. Whether the school authorities or local administration take any initiative to stand beside the two families remains to be seen.
